Lazio stun Inter to win Super Cup in Beijing

Coppa Italia winners Lazio stunned Serie A champions Inter Milan with two goals in two minutes early in the second half to win the Super Cup 2-1 in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday.

Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem opened the scoring against
the run of play in the 61st minute and Inter had barely
recovered from the shock before Lazio skipper Tommaso Rocchi
chipped keeper Julio Cesar to double the lead.

Inter piled on the pressure and new signing Samuel Eto'o cut
the deficit with 15 minutes to go but Lazio held on to win the
traditional pre-season contest for the third time.

"Getting such an important result against an important team
like Inter of course makes me very happy," said new Lazio
manager Davide Ballardini.

"Inter are probably better than us but we won the match and
we deserved it. To beat Inter you have to be good and a bit
lucky ... I think we deserved it because we really wanted to
win."

Inter manager Jose Mourinho disagreed.

"I am completely satisfied with the way my team played even
though I'm disappointed with the result," said Mourinho.

"I don't remember Inter playing such good football ... Even
after we went 2-0 down, we were still fantastic.

"Only a hypocrite would say Lazio deserved the result," he
added.

Mourinho started all four of his new signings, pairing Eto'o
and Diego Milito up front with Thiago Motta anchoring midfield
and Lucio in central defence.

Eto'o and Milito looked lively in attack but it was
Brazilian Lucio who came closest to scoring for Inter in the
first half with a low close-range header from Esteban
Cambiasso's corner palmed away by Fernando Muslera 10 minutes
before halftime.

Dejan Stankovic, Muntari, Eto'o and Milito all had early
chances as Inter looked to take control after the break but it
was Lazio who made the breakthrough.

Matuzalem found himself free in the area after a 61st-minute
Rocchi free kick spun off the wall and he forced the ball into
the net with his chin when his first attempt was blocked by
Cesar.

The celebrations had barely ended when skipper Rocchi
doubled the lead with a sublime chip that left Cesar with no
chance two minutes later.

Inter rallied and camped inside the Lazio half, finally
allowing Eto'o space to score his first goal for his new club,
the Cameroon international lashing the ball into the roof of the
net in the 75th minute after a defensive error.

Argentine Milito thought he had equalised 10 minutes later
but the referee called him back for offside and, with Muslera
outstanding in the Lazio goal, the Cup winners held out for a
morale-boosting victory.

A crowd organisers put at 70,000 made plenty of noise at the
Bird's Nest for the first sporting event at the stadium since
last September on the first anniversary of the opening ceremony
of the Beijing Olympics.